Today the i-Asia team have the opportunity to visit the Thai Cooking School in Northfield Avenue, to meet Sue, the enthusiastic and hard-working owner. And when we meet her, we instantly sense her passionate and infectious teaching spirit. We see the joy of teaching in her eyes but despite this cheery outlook, before today Sue has had many obstacles to overcome. Growing up in Thailand "I was born to a Chinese father and Thai mother as the fourth of ten children. We were of a working class background with my father designing and creating watch-faces. This was a specialist job at the time and so to help my family financially, I undertook a part-time job for a marketing company, Thai Hakuhodo, while studying at adult education centres and a commercial college. My job required me to speak English and although I wasn’t 100% percent fluent, I was definitely 100% enthusiastic. At this time my brother was studying in the UK. I hoped to join him in England in order to improve my English and return home with more marketable skills. By the time I arrived in the Britain, I had only ?20.00 in my pocket." Settling down in London i-Asia : With the little money in your pocket, how have you managed to get to where you are today and what problems have you faced along the way? Sue : I have to thank my brother who looked after me ensuring that I never went without when I arrived in England. I came here looking to study, the same as any other student but while I studying I met my husband. After a few months of dating we got married and I began working in telesales for a pharmaceutical company. I had to leave soon after as I found out I was pregnant. After my daughter, Beth, was born I decided to open up an English caf? as I came across a great place in North Kensington. That period of time was a real struggle because my daughter was young and I would have to leave home at 5am to open up. As this was a relatively small business, I decided to grow it by relocating to Ealing. We had been in Kensington for more than five years by this point and it was now time to move on. At the new premises, I managed an English caf? by day and Thai restaurant by night. We received much good press and customer feed back and the place was always fully booked. Despite the help and support from my husband, daughter and two brothers, after many years and long hours, we were all so exhausted and needed a long break. We sold up and took some time off. A cooking school fulfilling her dream and your tummy i-Asia : With years of experience in the catering industry, selling Thai and English food, what made you take the leap and start to teach Thai food? Sue : I have always been cooking since I was a child and now with over 20 years of catering experience in the UK, I wanted to teach this knowledge to others. I have a real passion for Thai food and started looking for premises which would be suitable. I spent a long time researching and getting all the necessary certificates, qualifications and recipes: including food hygiene and NVQ Level Three, as it is quite strict in England in comparison to Thailand. I did everything possible to ensure that this dream came true. The perfect location was a small shop in Northfield Avenue, Ealing. For the school opening, I was honoured that Senator Dumrong Puttan host the ceremony. He has been a continual source of support and encouragement. I am thrilled that together we promote Thai Cuisine in the UK and Thailand. I have always been proud of the unique and fresh variety of Thai ingredients and dishes, so I was keen share Thai culture and food with others. To this day, I am still pleased that the council officer signed the forms to allow us to open. In fact she has been a good student at my school! Since we have opened, we have had a great response from press and the public but as I am the only teacher I have been a bit overwhelmed but extremely happy. I like to keep the lessons light-hearted and informative as this always keeps me going on long days. Saying that, the househusbands generally take the classes seriously, they are very keen to learn. The female students and I like to have friendly catch-ups and we like to joke with each other that the school is a social meeting place for housewives! The first Thai Cooking School in the area i-Asia : There are quite a few Thais who teach Thai food, but we think that your school is at the top of the list. Sue : Thank you. I think that the Thai Cooking School differs from other cookery teachers and lessons around at the moment because our intention was always to open the business as a school teaching Thai food. We now have more than five years of teaching experience and are known for this in the area. There are other schools or teachers but they tend to demonstrate rather than give hands-on experience. The difficulty for our school is that I am the only teacher. I have tried to train other teachers, but they could not answer all of the students’ questions. This may be because they did not have the necessary experience. I needed to ensure that the quality of teaching in my school is not compromised. I tend to teach in groups of four students and avoid large groups. This allows a good level of one-to-one support and encouragement. It is particularly useful when students have specific dietary needs. As some students are allergic to certain Thai ingredients, I always hope to find a way around this so they can still enjoy Thai food. I will advise them on alternatives and substitutions. Our aim is to teach them to cook food that they can eat. This may sound obvious but I have listened to students’ complain that elsewhere they can not always find the advise or techniques they need to master the dish. This was the main problem that I, myself, experienced in the past. I used to find it difficult to cook certain dishes but if I asked others for help, they would never teach me or they would withhold key ingredients. I then began to experiment for myself. It took many trials and errors so now, I firmly believe that a teacher should give 100% and never leave anything out that will benefit the student. The recipes that we use at the school have been modified so many times to make a standardised taste, which is easy to learn. We want students to go home and cook the dish the same way as they have learnt in class and master the techniques in their kitchen. Thai Kitchen to the World "The Thai cooking school doesn’t only teach people from the UK. We have students from all over the world including the US, Norway and Slovenia. There are many students who come here to learn and gain enough experience to open a restaurant in their home country. One day I got a call from a French gentleman who needed a cook for his Ski resort. After speaking to him, I realised that Thai chefs would find it difficult to stay in such a cold climate and that he himself should learn to cook. He was hesitant at first so I told him that after a month he wasn’t able to cook, I would give him his money back. Now he passes on his knowledge of Thai food to local French chefs employed to work at his resort. I am very proud of my students’ determination and I can tell these stories these kinds of stories without ever getting bored." The spirit of being a teacher i-Asia : Do find anyone difficult to teach and how do you handle them? Sue : I only teach one dish per hour and as students can learn the dishes they wish to cook, I find that I don’t experience many people who are difficult to teach. We emphasise home-style cooking so we can work to a pace that suits the individuals and as we teach in a small group, everybody is involved at every step. I also encourage anyone to speak up if they struggle or are unsure of anything. Some teachers commented negatively but I would never tell an adult off! I prefer to highlight the positives and then afterwards, I would suggest ways to improve the taste, texture or presentation. Encouragement and support is the best way to help them cook Thai food. My teaching belief is that you can always do it. If students wish to open a restaurant we can arrange a full time course over one or three months. This is an intensive course, designed to explain Thai ingredients in detail, as we wouldn’t want them to have difficulties at a later date if they cannot find the same ingredients in their local area. Recently a lady signed up for a class. I didn’t know who she was and taught as I would normally but I later discovered that she was from Time Out magazine. She wrote a wonderful review that has brought many additional students to the school. Thai food fulfils my passion, fill your tummy and is also full of nutrition. Learning to cook can also help give people skills in the kitchen and through the confidence they gain by mastering something useful and practical. I would ideally like to expand the school but I need someone who can help me; someone with passion to make the school first class. I would like to increase awareness of Thai food and to help farmers and small traders in Thailand by using and creating custom for their ingredients and sauces. I am proud of their produce, of Thai culture and assisting anyone who wishes to cook delicious meals for themselves with their own skills. Finally, Sue, the wise teacher tells i-Asia: “I am pleased to advise and consult anyone who wants to learn, open up a school, restaurant or to find out more about Thai food and culture.” |